Researchers find way to stop spread of devastating rice fungus

London, March 26 (IANS) Scientists have discovered a way to stop the spread of rice blast, a fungus that destroys up to 30 per cent of the world’s rice crop each year.

The researchers found that chemical genetic inhibition of a single protein in the fungus stops it from spreading inside a rice leaf — leaving it trapped within a single plant cell.

The finding, published in the journal Science, could mark a major advance in understanding rice blast, a disease that is hugely important in terms of global food security.

The research revealed how the fungus can manipulate and then squeeze through natural channels (called plasmodesmata) that exist between plant cells.

“This is an exciting breakthrough because we have discovered how the fungus is able to move stealthily between rice cells, evading recognition by the plant immune system,” said senior author Professor Nicholas Talbot of the University of Exeter in Britain.

The protein, PMK1, is responsible for suppressing the rice’s immunity and allowing the fungus to squeeze through pit fields. So, by inhibiting it, the researchers were able to trap the fungus within a cell.

This level of precision led the team to discover that just one enzyme, called a MAP kinase, was responsible for regulating the invasive growth of rice blast.

The research team hope this discovery will enable them to identify targets of this enzyme and thereby determine the molecular basis of this devastating disease.